Fantasy Baseball Week 19 Preview: Top 10 sleeper pitchers include Michael Wacha, Jameson Taillon (2024)

The Athletics aren't the matchup they once were, but seeing as Robbie Ray eviscerated the Dodgers lineup in his first start back from Tommy John surgery, I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. It's a wonder he's still available enough to qualify for this list.

Between his six-pitch arsenal and pinpoint control, Spencer Schwellenbach has looked a lot better than his 4.06 ERA. His two-hit, 11-strikeout effort against the Mets over the weekend leads into a far better matchup against the Marlins.

Michael Wacha's latest start was a misstep, but it's still true that he's allowed no more than three earned runs in any of his past 11 starts for a 2.56 ERA. With matchups as favorable as the Tigers and White Sox, he's basically a must.

Matt Waldron's first turn this week is against the Dodgers, but as I said prior to his recent quality starts against the Diamondbacks and Guardians, the novelty of his knuckleball makes matchups less of a concern for him. And if you don't buy that argument, well, his second turn is against the Rockies in San Diego.

Jameson Taillon's 2.96 ERA is probably too good to be true, but he's an elite control pitcher who generally works deep into games. That's a tried-and-true profile for a two-start streamer, particularly when the matchups (Reds and Cardinals) are hardly prohibitive.

Andrew Heaney has had more success recently with a little extra juice on his slider, though his starts have still tended to be on the shorter side. He'll be facing a Cardinals lineup this week that has the second-lowest OPS against lefties.

Simeon Woods Richardson has done a good enough job keeping runs off the board that he's worth considering whenever he's in line for two starts, but especially when one is against the White Sox. The Mets matchup is a little worrisome, though.

Colin Rea still seems like one of the biggest overachievers among starting pitchers, but I might be willing to overlook it to get an extra start this week. The matchups are both in the lower half in runs scored.

These starts will only be Jordan Montgomery's second and third back from an IL stint for knee inflammation, but the first one went well enough. He was on a nice little run before then, too, if you exclude the start that landed him on the IL.

It's been a rough season for Brayan Bello, but he's been a little more stable recently with three quality starts in his past four. Mostly, though, this pick is about the matchup. The Mariners lineup is in dire straits right now.